How To Raise An Excellent Child In Today’s World

A parent’s desire for an excellent and well-adjusted child is palpable from the moment they are born.

To achieve this, however, you must, as a parent, know how to raise an excellent child in today’s world.

Bringing up a child successfully is quite an arduous task, and yes, every new parent wishes to have a home where their children can thrive.

It’s natural for parents to begin to watch out for developmental milestones the moment their baby is born, and rightly so.

These milestones consist of the different stages of development, such as early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence stage.

Understanding Your Child’s Developmental Milestone

Understanding your child’s developmental milestone is critical for any parent as it serves as a guide to your child’s developmental progress or the lack of it.

So, what are these milestones?

The first stage is when the loving bundle of joy arrives with countless expressions of joy and contentment.

This season fades away rapidly that no sooner have they started than we find ourselves in the troublesome two stages, and then, the middle childhood stage.

After that, we glide into the growing-up phases of the child, which is the adolescence stage.

It comes side by side with the exciting teenage years. And as time races by, we watch our children blossom into full-blown adults.

A Parent’s Dilemma

During these stages, some parents try to parent their children based on who they think they should be, rather than who they are.

For example, their children’s passions, likes, and dislikes are ignored, focusing only on their expectations for them.

We have found children discovering themselves much earlier in life with skills and interests but face disapproval from their parents.

It often occurs in subject areas such as the arts, music, and creativity, especially within certain communities.

Parents then make competitive choices for their children, forgetting the indelible fact that we are all different!

Today’s world does not make parenting any easier either, not with the global pandemic hitting hard at all of us.

There is also, the constant vertiginous pull into the matrix of technology, leaving our kid further entrenched into the digital hemisphere.

Sadly, this is slowly taking away lots of family ties and bonds.

For parents with children with special needs, this is a trickier situation.

It is much more challenging working with a child with needs or a defiant teen.

Some parents may have neither, but suddenly, you might face a child who has been bullied or abused.

At this point, parents may find themselves searching for answers, and seeking help from professionals, making the word excellence seem implausible in problematic situations.

Who is an excellent child?

The Cambridge dictionary defines excellent as extremely good.

When I think of this simple definition and my children, I imagine it to be hardly attainable.

The benchmark for extremely good seems to be unreasonably high because we are all human and tend to fail in diverse ways.

Again, our nature does not seem to suit us all, hence, the many hurdles towards excellence.

Excellence, nonetheless, is a great skill that can be achieved with perseverance in any given area related to an individual’s core strengths.

It’s only when the discoveries are made that we can begin to surpass expectations and blossom in ways that we never imagined possible.

An excellent child has great determination to excel within, alongside the skills they may have.

He or she discovers ways and strengths to see things through strong-minded decisions and works towards building the discoveries.

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My Excellent Child

In my book, My Excellent Child, I asserted that we must find the driving force that keeps us going, the gifts embedded in our children by our Great Creator.

A child can be excellent in ways most unexpected. For instance, I have worked with a child whose gift is a smile that can brighten anyone’s day.

Therefore, this tells me that no gift is unimportant, so we must treasure- every element we can find.

How do we break away from this regressive paradigm and make positive changes to enable our children to embark on a journey of discovering these elements?

It’s only when we begin to uncover the excellence within our child would we start to raise that excellent child.

A strength specifically designed for the individual child concerned.

Can Parents Raise Excellent Children?

Excellence is unique to everyone and cannot be measured corporately.

First, we all need to value each child for who they are as we unwrap each layer of discovery day by day.

I have interacted with various families in my profession and discovered that most parents focus on their children getting good grades.

From these daily interactions, I realise that parents raise unachievable expectations for their children, forgetting the indelible fact that the children are individuals of their rights.

In the same vein, outstanding grades also measure the schools, and young ones are often rewarded with competitive strategies.

So, what are the kinds of excellence we should look out for?

The Many Faces Of Excellence

There is so much to discover, and the more we search, the more we can find.

Excellence can be found in the following:

• Character
• Social activities
• Language and literacy
• Creativity
• Sports
• Studies
• Math and logic
• Music, dance, and art
• Love for animals

How To Raise An Excellent Child In Today’s World

# 1 Good Observations

It all starts with our observations.

Observe your child in action and notice the gifts that facilitate them to succeed.

Parents should value parenting time and take advantage of every moment seeking out more ways to discover new realities regarding their kids.

As you do, you will begin to discover strengths coming through as your child explores their interests.

This will take time and can take some trial and error, but as parents, we should all have a “growth mindset” as one step at a time is all it takes.

Today’s world equips our children with excellent devices that steal these precious moments away from us.

Still, we must create ways to balance our lives and never forget those precious moments.

# 2 Good communication

Effective communication must be respected, mainly when we need to use our listening skills.

As we listen, we will discover the great aspirations of our children, seeing and sensing their likes and dislikes in the process.

The little glitter in their eyes lights up each time they converse about that exciting venture.

These are the moments we should take advantage of.

When we find our children engrossed in any given activity, the instance is the moment that we will discover excellence.

It should guide us through, only if we are all watching.

We all need to take up a concerted effort in uncovering these gifts and talents and nurture them towards excellence.

# 3 Values

Parents, value what you discover and do not make comparisons.

Every child is gifted and unique in their way, and there is no one greater than the other.

Try making “an accomplishments box”. It’s a fun way for kids to see what they are doing well.

We are exposed to social media more than ever before, and despite its positive aspects, the negativity can spread hate.

This form of hate only makes our children crumble down in fear, shame, isolation, and even depression.

The world creates set standards with high unachievable measures with little or no way of escape.

It’s only from the reassuring words of parents that children can gather strength to escape from the grips of the standardised failure systems.

# 4 Talk about excellence!

Open dialogues can help both you and your child see and grasp abilities and possibilities.

And can go a long way in improving and building on your child’s self-awareness and self-esteem.

Finally…

Let us all use our time to discover and build our children to their full potential.

Embracing individuality and excellence within is the key.

Together, we can teach our children to value the gifts they have.

It is only then that they will begin to discover the excellence and hidden strengths within.

.”I can see the hidden strengths within my child. Can you?” Ruth D-Whyte

Do you know of any unusual gifts in children? Tell us by leaving a comment below.